We Didn't Start the Fire
by Latinpro
Summary: Nosedive starts to act strangely after a fight with Dragaunus and Wildwing is determined to find out why.


We Didn't Start the Fire

**_We Didn't Start the Fire_**

Author's Notes and Disclaimer: __This was written just after I got my learner's permit, so I had driving on the brain. Dive's driving (or flying?) experience at the end might even ring a bell with a few of you. This is set on just an ordinary day, maybe a few months after Puck Fiction. And yes, I wrote Duke's accent in. It's just a really cool accent and I like it! Okay, the usual disclaimer stuff. The Ducks, friends and foes all belong to Disney. "We Didn't Start the Fire" belongs to Billy Joel. (I think.) Oh yeah, and all trademarks are respective of their owners. The title will make sense, I promise.

Dive felt empty occasionally, and it wasn't because he wasn't on Puckworld. Temptation was all around him, and he couldn't reach out and take what he wanted. He'd seen all the other ducks, Thrash, Mookie, and even Phil be able to do it.

He wanted to really learn how to drive a car.

When Wildwing heard this, he automatically had thoughts of getting woken up by the police telling him his brother'd been in an accident or was getting his license revoked. He shook his head. "No."

            "Aw, why not, Wing? You can drive the Migrator, the most advanced thing Tanya has created short of Drake One, and I can't drive Phil's rusted out old Pinto?" Phil happened to walk in then. "Hey, bubbe, get it right. It's a clean, reasonably new Pinto, a work of art!" Duke chuckled. "Yeah a Picasso, de way dat you've slapped it togetha'."

            "So I'm getting a newer, nicer car soon. An antique, a '57 Chevy."

            "Great! Wing, Phil's selling his car, I need one." Tanya shook her head. "Uh, Nosedive, you're forgetting one thing. California and American laws declare that anyone who wants a driver's license has to be in some form of drivers' education."

            "Okay, that's not a problem. Thrash or Mookie'll know how to show me..."

            "NO!" Dive looked startled at the negative that had come from all in the room.  "What am I supposed to do then?"

            "You're not driving, Nosedive. That's final. I'm your brother and guardian. I don't think you're ready yet." Dive gave his brother a rather dirty look that screamed 'teen defiance' and walked off. "I can't do anything around here!" Wildwing sighed.        "He'll never learn." Tanya and Duke looked slightly embarrassed to have witnessed the fraternal scene and excused themselves to respective duties and left Phil and Wing alone. "Wildwing, he'll learn one way or another. Besides, on Puckworld, you might have been able to get around without much mechanical transportation, but here in America, driving is a way of life. If you change your mind, I'll teach him cheap. He's more mature than you realize."

            "Do you understand what would happen to us if he was injured or killed? He's the one thing that kept me alive in the mines on Puckworld."

            "I see your point. You're right; he's your ward and your responsibility. But the idea of wrecking and getting hurt is the absolute-worst-case-scenario. Anyway, I'll be in touch, bubbe. Press conference at 8, wear nice clothes and no armor this time!" Wildwing sighed as Phil walked out, leaving him with his thoughts. _Phil has some good points for once, but I can't lose my brother as well as everything else. Does anyone understand that or am I paranoid?_

In a different part of town, the last Saurian overlord and his three minions had been hatching yet another plan to overthrow the world. Dragaunus' mind worked like a steel trap. Simply from fighting with them for a few months, he had an idea of what each duck's strengths and weaknesses were. And of course, the one overall weakness of the team. "That blond male duck, the youngest one. What was his name again?"

            "Nosedive Flashblade, my lord" came Wraith's eerie voice.

            "Yes, that's it, _Nosedive. He's the brother of Wildwing and his most important reason for staying alive."_

            "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking, Lord Dragaunus?"

            "Indeed I am, Wraith. Siege, find a way to lure that duck here. Chameleon, infiltrate the Pond as this Nosedive. Wraith, prepare a trap for our guest and one for his rescue party. We might have vengeance at last!" Chameleon morphed into a remarkable copy of Nosedive for practice, complete with voice. "Man, Wildwing is really going to regret letting me out of his sight!" Siege handed Chameleon/Nosedive a transporter. "Now remember, act like this kid and not like this kid as a lunatic."

            "But I'm so _good at it!" _

"I know that nobody's perfect and all, but Wing should stop treating me like I'm still just a hatchling, you know? He's a great leader and the best goalie on Puckworld, but as a  brother, he's abysmal."

            "Don't sweat it, Dive. He'll give in eventually."

            "You really don't know Wing, do you Thrash?" Thrash rolled his eyes and rang up the latest edition of Zortron for Dive. 

            "You wanna grab some triple-spicy tacos?"

            "Nah, Mookie and I have to hold down the fort till 10. Just play it cool, man. I was convinced my old man would never teach me, but he did." Mookie walked in and nodded.

            "Yeah, which explains the current condition of our latest car." Thrash laughed and agreed with Mookie about the quality of the old Yugo. "Oh man, Dive, my first car actually broke in half when I drove over these railroad tracks once!"

            "You're kidding!"

            "No, seriously! I was doin' 80 at the time and caught air, but, still..." Dive shook his head. "I'm never getting close to a car with you two." He checked the clock on the far wall. 7:30. "I've got something with the team at 8. Wing's probably mad at me already because I just left them a note. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Thrash and Mookie said goodbye to Dive before he set out for the Pond. As he walked back, the youngest member of the Mighty Ducks thought that his brother actually had a good point in a few things. For instance, he did need to... _what the heck is that? A little old lady was hobbling around painfully and struggling with something in her hands. People brushed up against her roughly, knocking her around. "Hey, lady! Wait! I'll help you out!" She stopped and looked over at him. "Oh, thank you, sonny. I'm trying to walk to the service station. I'm having tele- uh, _transportation_ problems."_

            "Really? What kind of problems? I bet I can help. Is it the engine or did you run out of gas?"

            "No, it's something else."

            "You've got an idea?"

            "Yes, I do." The old lady hit him on the head and morphed into Chameleon. "It's your brother." Chameleon hit the cloaked transporter set for the _Raptor and they vanished. The only thing left was Dive's comic book._

Wildwing paced. When he finally felt his legs wouldn't hold any longer, he paced a little more. "He's hurt or in trouble, I know it." Mallory eased off one of her painful dress shoes and shook her head.

            "Dive's a tough kid, Wildwing. He'll probably come in right about now and want to go out to eat."

            "Yeah, that sounds like him, but he's always been good with coming in on time for these meetings as much as he hates them. Look, it's already 7:45. If he isn't in here in five minutes, I'm calling him and I won't be happy with him." Duke and Tanya entered along with Grin and Phil. "It's time to go, bubbes. The reporters are starting to arrive."

            "Hey, Wildwing, where's de kid?"

            "I don't have a clue, Duke. I'm calling him now, and is he in for it."

            "Wildwing, you can't really do that." Wildwing looked up. "Why not, Mallory? He needs to be here for this."

            "It's not going to respond. He turns it off when he needs quiet time." Wildwing sighed. "Great. We're going to have to either wait for him or go find him. Phil, can you stall for us?"

            "I can try, bubbe. I'll manage to put it off for thirty minutes max."

            "8:30, then. We'll find him. Grin, Duke, you check the mall and Captain Comics. Mallory, you try the local taco restaurant. Tanya, see if you can get a possible trace on Drake One. I'll stay here and be base of communications."

            "Uh, Wildwing, aren't you uh, over- over... taking this too seriously?"

            "No. My little brother's out there, a storm is brewing, and Dragaunus has been too quiet lately. He's up to something. I know it."

Dragaunus and Siege were waiting when Chameleon arrived. He was now a massive bodybuilder with an Austrian accent (take a wild guess) who tossed Dive to the ground. "Ohh, he's not a heavy fell-low. Still needs to cut baa-ck on those taa-cos." Siege rolled his eyes and dragged the unconscious duck away. "He's going to have the mother of all headaches when he wakes up." Dragaunus turned to Chameleon. "You know what to do. Anything you can to crush the ducks." Chameleon morphed into Nosedive and hit the un-cloaked transporter. "This is going to be some cooella fun!"

Duke and Grin had already covered the mall and had just questioned Thrash and Mookie, who told them that Dive had left about 15 minutes ago. "I'm startin' to think like Wildwing, Grin. Dis just isn't right. Something's...odd. He would have been back at de Pond by now."

            "Nosedive's aura is not near here. It might be too clouded."

            "I'll just agree wit' you and say nothing." Duke sighed and happened to look down an alleyway where he saw a limp form propped against a wall. "Grin, look down there! Is dat him?" They ran to where the form was and saw "Nosedive," who looked like he was in the middle of a nap. "Well, he isn't reekin' of Schnapps, so I guess dat's a good thing. Here, can you life 'im, Grin?"

            "He is light. Wildwing will want to know what has happened."

            "Yeah? Well I'm wantin' to know what's happened 'ere. I'll call Wildwing and tell 'im we found Dive."

Wildwing closed his com. "Duke and Grin found him, Tanya. On the corner of Beach and 5th."

            "Uh, that's an alleyway, Wildwing. Was he in a fight?"

            "They don't know. They said it looks like he hadn't been there long. Check for any teleportations there in the last ten minutes." Tanya ran it through the computer and nodded. "Yeah, there was one. Says it came from the park next to Beach and 5th."

            "Which means that Dive must have seen them and got ambushed!"

            "But we can't go after them because Dragaunus could be anywhere by now. I think you should put him in bed and I'll check him out after the conference. You heard what Mallory said earlier. Dive's a tough kid."

Chameleon hated playing unconscious people. He had to stay perfectly still and keep his breathing normal. As soon as the big duck put him on the bunk bed, in what he assumed was the young duck's room, he waited for the swish of the door. He jumped out of bed and changed from the armor to the kid's street clothes. It wouldn't matter if someone noticed that he didn't have a communicator or those weapons -puckblasters?- with him; they would assume that he lost them to Lord Dragaunus. Checking himself out in the mirror, he had to admire the realism of his current form. Chameleon heard a noise. Footsteps approaching. Quickly, he jumped back onto the lower bunk and closed his eyes so that only a slit was open and not visible. The door opened and the leader stepped in. It was the first time that Chameleon had seen him without the mask on. The duck and his brother bore no strong resemblance to one another, but the beaks and eyes were the same. "Hey, Dive" the leader said. "Guess you're still out of it. I'm sorry about what I said today. But you didn't have to go out and get yourself half-killed proving that you're up to the challenge. I know that you've had a rough life, and without Mom and Dad, and with all that we've been in..." _Oh brother, Chameleon thought. __Cue the sappy music. Wildwing kept on talking to his unconscious 'brother.' "...And it has to be hard coming straight from the mines to the limelight of Earth. Phil and I will try to teach you how to drive, if it will make you happy. Speaking of Phil, he got us out of the press conference. The others had to go, but he told the reporters that you and I had a cold or something like that." __This is getting old. "Nosedive" stirred a little to let Wildwing know that he was coming out of it. "I guess I'd better let you get some rest. Good-night, little brother. Duke picked up your comic book for you." Wildwing pulled the sheets over him, laid the book by his feet and left. When he was sure he was alone, Chameleon hopped out of bed again and checked for hidden cameras or mikes. There were none, obviously. He reverted into his normal form and pulled Dragaunus' com out of his pocket. "Lord Dragaunus? I'm in and they've bought it!"_

            "Excellent work, Chameleon. Now, just twist the thorn and do whatever you must. Also, find a way to disable that computer of theirs and find the ingredients to bellerium crystals."

            "If they don't have any?"

            "Just do as much damage as you can." Chameleon hid the com in his pocket, reverted back into the duck's form and took in Dive's room. "These are pretty good digs. I could get used to this." He picked up the comic book and started to read it. Pushing it away a moment later, he asked "What thorn?"

Dive woke up with a killer headache, as predicted. He didn't know where he was at first, but then remembered in a rush. The argument between him and Wildwing, the old woman who turned out to be the Chameleon, the threat against his brother, everything. "Oh man," he moaned, "this is seriously bad!" Siege lumbered up the hall and shoved something on a tray toward him. "You're awake, huh? Eat somethin' before Lord Dragaunus meets with you."

            "No way! It's probably poisoned!"

            "If you want to starve, suit yourself." Deciding that eating it was the lesser of two evils, Dive tasted the goop on the plate. It was disgusting, worse even than his own cooking, but was still food. It left a moldy taste in his mouth afterward. Popping out a box of Tic-Tacs, he choked down the entire carton. "Minty fresh breath. If I'm going to die at the hands of the last Saurian overlord, I might as well have fresh breath. And they're only a 1/14 of a calorie." He sat and thought about various ways to escape until Dragaunus arrived. He smirked and looked well pleased with himself. _Uh-oh. Rule numero uno: It's not good when baddies smirk and look pleased. That means my head's probably going to be above his mantle before Wing and the team can come and bail me out. "So duck, how do you like my prison sector?"_

            "Service is great, the food sucks."

            "Defiant to the last. That's very brave of you. Your brother has no clue you're here."

            "He'll come. I know Wildwing. He won't forget about me." Dragaunus laughed for a full thirty seconds. "No, he won't, because he thinks that you're safe at home." Nosedive squared his shoulders. "You…you're crazy! You just laid a trap for him and expect him to waltz right in it? No, he'll notice. Nothing gets past him. He'll see I'm not there, and…"

            "But that's the beauty of the plan! You _are there." Dive gave him a confused look and then caught on. "Your goon is doing your dirty work for you? That's low."_

            "I'm a villain. What do you expect? We've been planning this trick for a long time."

            "That nutty Chameleon will screw up somewhere; he'll eat Velveeta straight out of the box or chug canola oil in front of Wing or do an impression in front of somebody. He can't fully impersonate me…because Wing and I have a _code." Of course Dive was stalling, and it wouldn't be long until Dragaunus found that out. Dragaunus, much to his credit, raised an eyebrow. "That's far too desperate to be believed. Chameleon will find it out, if there is one. Have no fear. Your teammates will join you soon." Dive felt his heart sink, then decided to play it cool. He sat down on the floor and pulled a tube of Mentos out of his pocket. __This is going to be an extremely long night. Unless…_

Mallory shuddered when she saw what "Dive" was doing. He loading up one of those blasted triple-spicy tacos of his with even more hot sauce and chunks of Velveeta cheese. "Mmmmm, uf's be-ah lak 'is, Mal."

            "What are you drinking?"

            "Wa-ah. Uuurp, scuse meh."

            "You are so disgusting, Nosedive. How does Wildwing put up with you?"

            "Brofferwy wuv. Ooh'd ern 'oo, uf Ah wus yor broffer." Wildwing walked in. "What's going on, guys?"

            "Wanna see wuf's in muh mouf?"

            "No thank you, Dive. What are you planning tonight, Mallory? The others want to go to a nice restaurant." He quieted his voice. "I'm passing on the invitation; someone has to take care of Dive." He gestured over at his brother, who was now gargling the water and trying to play out TV theme songs with it. "He's…_not quite himself since the other night."_

            "I see your point. Can you handle him alone?"

            "Of course. You and the others go out for tonight and when Dive's feeling better, we'll join you."

            "Er ooh doo dalkin' bout me?" Wildwing turned and smiled at his brother, who had just finished the Brady Bunch theme and was now starting on Hogan's Heroes with another gulp of water. "Of course we are. Tonight's plans. You and I are going to spend some time together more from now on, and give the others more breaks." Dive finally swallowed what was in his mouth. "More of that 'brotherly bonding' junk?"

            "Fraid so. We can watch Pay-Per-View, play video games, try to cook something… just like the old days." Dive considered this and shook his head. 

"Thanks, but no. I'd rather listen to Van Halen, water my plants and watch water seep through the roots than spend _happy time with my big brother." He gave a goofy grin and walked off. Wing sighed heavily and turned to Mallory. "He didn't use to be like this. Ever since he was hurt, he doesn't want anything to do with me. Can I really be that bad of a brother to him?"_

            "No, Wildwing, of course not! He's just being a sulky himself. He'll get over it, I'm sure." He didn't seem to hear her. "It's not that I don't trust him, I don't trust the world around him. Am I suffocating him or something? Skies, I sound like my father."

            "Maybe it's better for him this way." 

            "Maybe Dragaunus did something to him. He knows by now that the best way to me –and the team- is through Dive. The weirder he acts, the more sure I become of this." Duke rushed in and stopped short of Wildwing.

"Wing, you'd bedda' come quick! I think dat Dive's tryin' to eat 'is sea monkeys!"

Dive had figured out a plan that relied on Siege and his not-too-high IQ, and it was now time to set it in motion. If all went well, the Saurians would lead him to the other Ducks just like Klegghorn to a donut. "Hey Siege," he called, "do you get cable here?"

            "Pirated."

            "Yeah, but you get it, right?"

            "Premium packaging. Why?"

            "I was just wondering if you've seen the Bernie cartoons."

            "Bernie the Bear?" Dive snapped his fingers. "Yeah! That's the one! Grin- the big duck who's my teammate- and I, we kinda had a bet going on about whether or not Bernie was a bear."

            "Of course he's a bear, you nitwit!" Dive tried to remember Grin's arguments.

            "Yeah, but he drives a car and has a dog! What kind of bear gets to drive?"

            "It's a cartoon, moron! He has fur!"

            "Come on man, he wears a polka-dotted bow tie and a big goofy hat! He goes _'Dum-te-dum-dum' when he walks down the street and usually into a lightpost!" Siege glowered at him. "You crazy duck! Of course he's a bear! Just shut up and don't bother trying to argue. Lord Dragaunus is stopping by later."_

            "Oh, rapture. My day just doesn't get completed until I get a visit from Dragaunus. And Bernie was not a bear. He was a… big human who needed to shave or something."

            "Bernie was a bear, for the last time!"

            "Oh, yeah? I'll prove it to you. Show me your TV. It's about time for Bernie to come on. Show me your TV, we'll find out what species Bernie is, and then I'll shut up and not bother you again about it. Deal?"

            "In order to make you shut up…deal." Dive smiled as the clink of the force field shutting off echoed. _Let's see if I can make it out of here alive to brag to Grin that Bernie is a bear. He felt something sweat-sticking to his left arm. __Hey, I didn't wear my watch today…_

Wildwing rested the back of his head against the couch thing Dive had parked in front of his TV and flipped through channels. After the sea monkeys incident, he had asked Tanya to give Dive something strong to knock him out. Dive had protested so loudly that Wing didn't have the heart to force him out. So Dive was lying in bed and Wing was trying to find a music channel for him_. Maybe there's nothing really wrong with him. Maybe he's just adjusting to Earth. Dive's voice came out, tired sounding but awake. "Hey Wing? You know what would be really cool?"_

            "What's that?"

            "If I could play the concert French horn and juggle at the same time." 

_And then again, I could be wrong. Maybe he finally got pushed off the edge. But what happened? Time to find out. "Hey Dive?"_

            "That's me."

            "What happened that night when you fought with Dragaunus?"

            "You mean the other night?"

            "Yeah. What gives? Why are you acting so weird?" Nosedive took his time answering. "Well, I was walking home when I saw the _Raptor appear in that park. Just mindin' my own business when the four Saurians jumped me. Next thing I know, they're trying to drag me away and I jump to fight with them. I drove them off but I collapsed in the alleyway where Duke and Grin found me."_

            "Wow, Dive. Why didn't you tell me?"

            "I thought you'd get all big-brothery on me. Y'know, like in that book, _1984. 'Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Knowledge,' stuff like that." Wildwing stared at him oddly for a moment. _Hold on a minute… That's not right…_He got up and put a hand on his puckblaster. "I don't know who you are, but my brother's never heard of __1984, let alone read it._

            "I…uh, looked…it…up. I got curious one night. And I have heard of it; Capri mentioned it in number 3 of the Far Wars Saga."

            "Far Wars, huh Dive? Never heard of it."

            "It's pretty cool. It's about this writer who gets sucked into her computer with four of her closest friends and her characters and have to fight this evil overlord in another dimension."

            "Sounds a little like us." Chameleon/Dive looked at Wing for a long time. "I'm getting tired. Could you hit the lights for me?" Wing heard the 'goodnight' in his voice and  killed the lights. "Night, Dive. Sleep well. Sorry about the _1984 thing." Chameleon couldn't respond much. "S'ok." __I will not __get attached to these ducks!_

_ _

Dive, the real Dive, was sure that he had some signs of fatigue showing by now. But, he reasoned, that was what Dragaunus wanted; him to get worn down and off guard. Siege and he were still having their "argument" over Bernie. The Saurian jabbed his finger at the cartoon bear waltzing down the street on the TV. "See? That is a bear. That is Bernie. Bernie is a bear. Happy?" Dive leaned up against a console and demagnetized the cuffs binding him. "Man. I guess you're right. I was wrong about that. It's just a little weird that he'd drive and have a house and eat steak and stuff."

            "It's called a cartoon."

            "I figured that much out, thank you." _Just keep talking, you moron, I need a few more minutes with the demagnetizing. "Hey, wait! What's his girlfriend like?"_

            "Bernie doesn't have a girlfriend."

            "You absolutely sure? Who's that then?"

            "That's his neighbor. She dates the gopher down the street." _Got it! Sayonara, Dragaunus and thank you Duke! "Well, thanks for clearing that up, Siege. Y'know, you're a lot less stupid and fierce in real life than in battle."_

            "What did you say? Whyioughta…" Dive held up his unbound hands. "Talk about your bad days, huh Siege?" He actually managed to pick up the Saurian and throw him into the cell Dive had just resided in for the past few days, knocking him out. "See ya round, Siege!" Thinking quickly, he spotted a laser gun and a communicator. "Oh look; Tanny gets some new tinker toys!" Popping a Mentos, he had a sudden idea about what to do while he was stuck onboard the _Raptor. Now, if these cuffs aren't demagnetized too badly, I think I can get this plan to work… I wish I'd paid more attention when Tanya was telling me about alternate energy sources!_

Tanya, Duke, Grin and Mallory had just sat down at the restaurant and received menus. "What are you getting, Tanya?"

            "Uh, I've always liked shrimp scampi. What about you Duke?"

            "I dunno. Prob'ly somethin' like a quiche. 'Bout you, Mal-Mal?"

            "A nice, big Caesar salad. With extra cheese and dressing." Shouts came from the other patrons. "I guess they don't like your idea of a salad, Mal."

            "Uh, that's not it guys. That is." Tanya pointed to a flying beauty parlor. "It's the _Raptor!"_

            "Who's piloting that thing? Someone who's blindfolded and spun around a couple of times?"

            "We've gotta call Wildwing!"

            "You're right; he probably needs a break from Dive. Besides, it's not everyday you get to see a flyin' beauty parlor!"

Wing was asleep. He liked sleeping. Especially in all these stressful days worrying about Dive and the team and Dragaunus' inactivity. He'd been dreaming of the old days back at home on Puckworld when he was teaching Dive how to block shots and how to stay up on his skates and didn't have to worry with keeping their heads on their shoulders and staying alive. _Was it really that long ago? No matter how much he wanted to stay behind with the pleasant recollections, he had to take the call. "Wildwing here. What's going on?"_

            "Wing, it's Mallory. The _Raptor_'s plowing into the countryside. We're at Chez Pecunia."

            "I'll be right over." Changing into his armor, he quickly went to Dive's room. _No, he's still too unpredictable. Better just let him sleep. The bundle in the bed had the sheets pulled up over his head, judging from the hall lights. He shut the door and headed out with the __Aerowing. Landing a few minutes later, he picked up the other four ducks, who were already in battle gear. "What's going on? Dragaunus lost control again?"_

            "We can't tell. It looks that way."

            "Tanya? Any clue?"

            "Ah, well, it would look that maybe he tried another energy source or someone really inexperienced is flying it."

Dive struggled to keep the _Raptor above the ground and tried not to hit anything. Dragaunus rushed in and surveyed the damage, not noticing it was Dive flying it. "You fool! You have no clue on how to pilot the __Raptor!"_

            "That's right! I'm more used to the _Aerowing, thanks."_

            "You're the duck!"

            "Correctamundo again! Look, you're going to have to help me with this; I still can't steer."

            "I'd rather rip you to pieces right now." Dive turned his eyes away from the viewport and toward Dragaunus. "_Hit me and we blow up together," he told him through gritted teeth. Dragaunus, the Saurian overlord, and Nosedive Flashblade, a duck who by all rights deserved to be back in the mines, gripped hands for a moment in a very uneasy alliance for survival. Dragaunus began to give him driving instructions. _

            "You're not DMV certified, Draggy, but you'll have to do in a pinch!"

Chameleon tried to turn on Drake One without success. "That duck must have taken something from it. There's gotta be some sort of alternate power switch." After a few minutes of searching, he became frustrated and gave up. "No way of turning on the computer, no way of finding bellerium ingredients. Might as well head back." He reverted into his old self and pushed the transporter for the _Raptor-_

-just as Dive half-crashed/half-landed it into a field. Chameleon landed with a thud next to Siege, still locked up in his cell. Meanwhile, Dive wiped his forehead. "Best parking job yet." Dragaunus grabbed his collar and held him up "Errk..lemme..go…"

            "You've just wrecked my ship. I should do what I intended to do. But would you be worth the exertion of killing?"

            "Uhhhh, no." Chameleon hurried in and assumed a rather penitent pose. "I couldn't find any ingredients for bellerium crystals or find anything on their computer. Before the lead duck left, he shut down everything."

            "You mean you couldn't find our box of Reddy-Bellerium Tanny has hidden away in the kitchen?" Dragaunus tightened his grip on Dive's collar in response. "Nevertheless, we still have a duck with us. Chameleon, distract the ducks when they arrive. I'm going to get rid of this one and I'm going to enjoy it." Chameleon morphed back into Dive and took up a residence outside the _Raptor._

Wildwing's heart sank when he landed the _Aerowing near the __Raptor. "Oh Dive," he whispered, "why didn't you stay in bed? And how did you get here?" Tanya rushed out. "He's alive, Wildwing." She looked up at him. "Do you want us to put him on board."_

            "Is he out for a long time?"

            "No telling."

            "Put him on board then." Mallory and Grin carried "Dive" into the _Aerowing. "This kid is a glutton for punishment. Ever seen anything like it, Grin?"_

            "No, but it is odd that he is not wearing his armor. His aura is…cloudy, to say the least."

            "Something is definitely wrong here." 

On the battlefield, Wildwing, Tanya and Duke headed into the _Raptor to find Dragaunus happily choking the real Dive, who was about three feet above the floor. _

            "Hey, Wild…wing. Glad…you could…make it… help me….please?" Wildwing was almost disappointed that he was wearing the mask. The red fury in its eyes came no where close to even rivaling the cold glint in his eyes. "Put my brother down."

            "As you wish." Dragaunus pitched Dive toward them. Dive managed to alter his course in midair so that he wasn't going to be the ball in duck-bowling and crashed into a bulkhead. He stood, shook himself off, and put his armor on. "That was seriously not cool, lizard-lips! You may be my driving instructor, but this time it's really personal!"

            "Driving instructor? Dive, you didn't have to switch sides on us to learn how to drive a car! Phil and I are going to teach you."

            "Really? That's great, big bro, but right now Draggy isn't too happy with me because I crashed this rusty piece of junk a minute ago."

            "You were de pilot? Kid, we have got to work on your takeoffs and landings." Grin and Mallory ran in, holding a squirming Chameleon. "Wing, we've got problems…and you've got the real Nosedive?"

            "Me in the flesh, girly-girl."

            "Yeah, that's the real Nosedive." Dragaunus merely chuckled at the Ducks' reunion. "You can celebrate now, but I can blow us all sky-high with the flick of this button."

            "What do you mean?"

            "I mean I've taken the liberty of strapping explosives to your brother's left wrist. I alone can deactivate it." Wildwing checked; that was the thing that had stuck to Dive's arm. "He's right, Wing. I found it earlier."

            "What do you want in return?"

            "The Chameleon and a return to a new hiding ground."

            "For my brother's and my team's lives? I'll take it."

Three days later, when Dive and the others had recovered from the shock of the past few days, he started his long awaited driving lessons. With Phil in the passenger's seat and Wing in the back, Dive set out in what he had christened "his rusty Pinto." 

            "Great job getting the learner's permit so soon, bubbe. You're a real quick-study. Now you can chauffeur me around." 

            "Don't bet on it, Phil."

            "Okay, Dive. Turn left here."

            "Right, Wing."

            "No, left."

            "Right. I mean, uh, gotcha."

            "By the way Dive, how _did you get your learner's permit so easily?" Dive looked at Wing slyly in the rear-view mirror. "I don't just read comic books, you know." He cranked up the radio and let the music drown out his manager and big, worrywart brother. It was a song he actually liked. _

_We didn't start the fire   
It was always burning,   
Since the world's been turning.   
We didn't start the fire   
Well we didn't light it,   
But we tried to fight it…_

Finis.


End file.
